Dig deep, and you'll find Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll have a lot in common

PHOENIX — Sitting side by side with the Vince Lombardi Trophy between them, Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick were a contrast in style.

Carroll was witty, expansive and enthusiastic during a joint news conference Friday morning. Belichick was monotone and careful, warming up as the session progressed but always portraying the sense that he would rather be on the field coaching.

The Super Bowl coaches, linked by history, are seemingly so different. When Patriots owner Robert Kraft wanted a smiling face for his franchise, he hired Carroll in 1997. When he wanted more substance and less style, he fired Carroll and hired Belichick in 2000.

But these coaching lifers might have plenty in common, sound bites aside.

They're both relentless workers and football savants, coaches who honed their skill as defensive assistants. They both require complete control of their operation and have thrived as the de facto head of their respective teams.

Carroll is more likable and glib, while Belichick is dark and brooding, right? Spend a week listening to Belichick's news conferences and you'll be surprised by his ability to spin a story or offer deep football analysis.

Belichick pushes the rules or even cheats while Carroll is honest and transparent, right? Let's recall Carroll's departure from Southern Cal, coming just months before the school football program was punished for NCAA violations.

The Courant's Paul Doyle is in Arizona this week covering the Patriots, Seahawks and everything Super Bowl XLIX. Follow along through each day's activities leading up to the game as he sets the scene from Phoenix.

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The truth is, these guys have more in common beyond the surface.

"What you see on TV is what you get pretty much from the two," said cornerback Brandon Browner, who played for the Seahawks before joining the Patriots. "They have similarities, too, though. Their football IQ is way up there. They are so different, but at the same time they're the same. That is why they both have succeeded at this level."

Browner describes Belichick as old school in the way he runs practices and interacts with players. Carroll is more of a players' coach, allowing them to play their choice of music in the facility or shoot baskets before meetings.

Carroll also lets his players be themselves, whether that's the outspoken Richard Sherman or the media-shy Marshawn Lynch. He supports both equally.

With Belichick, players don't color outside the lines.

"He does whatever he feels is necessary for this team," safety Devin McCourty said. "At times it's stuff we don't want to do and, at other times, he throws us a bone. The thing with Bill is that he's consistent. You know what you're going to get from him each day."

Belichick, 62, and Carroll, 63, have had common careers. Both were highly touted defensive coaches before flaming out quickly in their first head coaching jobs, Carroll with the Jets and Belichick with the Browns.

Carroll got another head coaching job when Belichick's mentor, Bill Parcells, left the Patriots over a power struggle with Kraft.

"When I hired Pete, I was coming off my first experience as an owner," Kraft said. "He's pretty special to be around. He's a lot of fun. He's not your typical head coach in the NFL. He's also smart … Coming off the situation I had been in — although I had a great coach [Parcells], I believed in more checks and balances like my other businesses, and I think I handicapped Pete from doing as good a job as he could have done, because I was coming off a situation I was reacting to."

Out with Carroll, in with Belichick.

"I think my evolution as an owner and trying to understand how to be a good owner and run a franchise, I think I matured to the point where I knew how to set it up and then see how the person performed," Kraft said. "I think having Bill Belichick as my head coach, I don't think I could have a better coach."

After a year away from coaching, Carroll was hired by Southern Cal.

"The best thing that has ever happened is that [Kraft] sent me to USC," Carroll said. "He didn't realize that at the time, but I'll always be grateful for the time we spent together and will always take pride in watching the great success that these guys have had together in historic fashion for the New England franchise."

While Belichick was turning the Patriots into dynasty, Carroll revived the program at USC. The Trojans won national titles in 2003 and 2004 and pieced together a 34-game winning streak. Carroll's high-profile program filled a football void in Los Angeles, attracting the likes of Will Ferrell to practices.

But Carroll accepted a $33 million contract offer from the Seahawks in January 2010. Five months later, USC was hit with penalties for breaking NCAA rules. The program was hit with a two-year bowl ban, the loss of scholarships and were forced to vacate 14 victories.

Asked this week about his continued connection with USC, Carroll said it remains deep.

"It has been because everything that we do now was really forged there in L.A. and I've never forgotten that," Carroll said. "I give great regard to that because this philosophy, this approach, this language, everything that we do, this style of coaching people, really was brought together there and I was so fortunate that I had the chance to do it at USC."

Carroll has said he did not know the NCAA penalties were coming and left only because the Seahawks gave him an offer too good to refuse.

"We were really wronged there," Carroll said about the NCAA punishment, according to a Los Angeles Times story. "I think it's so obvious, so obvious. … I'm just not going to get into that here."

Carroll spent most of Friday's media session recounting his New England experience and comparing where the Patriots are now compared to then, when he was mocked by fans and media for being too much like a college coach. It was the same criticism he received in New York during his one season with the Jets.

All these years later, Carroll is having the last laugh.

"I got pounded a couple times and got fired a couple times in the league," Carroll said. "Everybody likes to have fun with that. My therapist tells me I should always talk about it and that I shouldn't hide from it. … My years [in New England] were very beneficial. My relationship with [Kraft] and his family will always be special. They supported me in a tremendous way until they couldn't anymore. Then they made one of the great moves in the history of the NFL by hiring Bill Belichick and all that he's done. They've done famous things together. It's been fun to watch that. I've enjoyed that a lot. I have a tremendous respect for Bill and the job that Robert has done. I've watched Robert grow as an owner and Bill take over the organization and do all this great stuff that we see."